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Friday, September 30, 2011

Largest Anime Conventions in North America - 2011 edition

Kalafina at Anime Expo

Anime Conventions happen on a regular basis in the United States and Canada. North America is one of the most competitive places in the world for Anime Conventions. Out of the various anime cons that happen in a year, there are only a few large Anime-focused conventions that are above the 10,000 mark in the United States. A successful large convention is a combination of having a vibrant anime community, passionate staff, a large market, and an ability to draw people from outside the local constituency. Without further ado, here are the largest anime conventions in the United States.

Ohayocon is the largest winter anime convention in the United States. It takes place in Ohio, and it's name "Ohayou" means "Good Morning." It is a fast growing three-day anime convention in the Midwest and with its Late-January dates it is also the first large anime con over the course of the year.

Fanime is the second largest anime convention in California, and the eighth largest anime convention in the United States. Starting out as a gathering of Local anime clubs, FanimeCon grew to a large anime convention. The convention occurs on Memorial Day Weekend.

Started two years before Anime Expo, A-Kon (formerly known as Project A-Kon) is North America's longest continually running anime convention and one of the largest conventions in the United States. A-Kon is a three day anime convention that occurs in late May/early June.

Sakura-Con is the largest anime con in Northwestern United States. When started in 1998, the convention originally had the name Baka!-Con, but changed the name to Sakura-Con in 2000. Sakura-con is the large April con in the United States.

Anime Boston is a very young convention in the world of large anime cons. It was started out of desire by a group of anime fans in Boston who felt that they could have a local anime convention that they didn't need to drive to. The first year of the convention had a unique attendance of 4,110, a number completely unheard of for the first year of any anime convention. Since then, Anime Boston has become one of the fastest growing anime conventions in the United States.

Anime North is Canada's largest anime convention (with Otakuthon being the second largest). It is a fast-growing convention in the North, but due to overcrowding issues they are considering attendance caps in future conventions. Anime North is a three-day convention that occurs in late-May.

Anime Central is the largest anime convention in the Midwest and the third largest anime convention in North America. In terms of sheer growth, Anime Central is one of the fastest growing anime conventions in North America (along with Anime North). Anime Central traditionally has been a May convention, but it has moved to April for 2012.

Otakon is the second largest anime convention in the North America and the largest anime convention in the East Coast. The convention's name is a combination of "Otaku Convention." Many people see Otakon and Anime Expo as rival conventions, but the geographic differences between both cons means that there is little overlap in terms of demographics. The convention is the largest three day anime convention in the United States, they attempted to expand the convention to four days in 1995, but it was met with lots of resistance from within the organization. Due to the massive size of Otakon, it has a huge economic impact on the city of Baltimore.

Anime Expo has quite a bit under its name, it is the largest anime convention in North America, it is one of the longest running anime conventions, it is one of the few four-day anime conventions. Anime Expo started in 1992 in San Jose, and in 1994 the organization made a strategic move to Southern California. The convention is known for its Japanese guests, incredible number of cosplayers, and its gigantic size. I have a very long history with Anime Expo, so the convention has a strong place in my heart.

So there you have it, here are the largest anime convention in North America. This isn't a top ten list, just a list of conventions larger than 10,000, so the list will grow larger as more cons get larger in size. Of these cons the only one I have attended with some regularity is Anime Expo, but hopefully soon I can expand to attend more of these wonderful large conventions.